Illuminations on the Lectionary readings for July 17, 2022 (Pentecost 6C)

First Reading (Track One): Amos 8:1-12

In last week’s Track One first reading we heard the prophet Amos angrily warn Israel’s king and high priest of the terrible fate that would befall them and their families if they continued to be unjust.

This week, in verses immediately following that passage, we hear Amos recite a horrifying litany of curses that he says will fall upon the land whose rulers “trample the needy and bring to ruin the poor.” Let the land tremble and its people mourn as the sun goes dark and crops fail, the prophet warns. The people will hunger and thirst for God’s words as they do for food and water, but they will not find them.

First Reading (Track Two): Genesis 18:1-10a

In Sunday’s Track Two first reading the story of the chosen people begins. God, speaking through three mysterious strangers, comes to the patriarch Abraham by the oaks of Mamre. He greets these strangers with open hospitality far beyond their simple needs, killing a calf to prepare them a lavish meal. Then they reveal that he and his wife Sarah, despite their advanced age, will have a son. Later we learn that Abraham and Sarah’s offspring, as numerous as the stars, will inherit the Promised Land. Now, take your bible and turn the page. In next week’s reading, immediately following this example of gracious hospitality and its rewards, we’ll hear the story of Sodom’s failure of hospitality and the total destruction that it reaped.

Psalm: (Track One): Psalm 52

Psalm 52 harmonizes well with the prophecy of Amos: It angrily accuses an unnamed tyrant (perhaps, according to tradition, Doeg the Edomite, who conspired with Saul to kill King David) who “trusted in great wealth,” a liar who loved evil more than good. May God demolish the tyrant, the Psalmist shouts; wicked people who steal from the poor will fail, while those who trust in God’s eternal mercy will live in joy.

Psalm: (Track Two): Psalm 15

The Track Two first reading told of the beginning of God’s covenant with the people. Now Psalm 15 lays out the covenant’s fundamental premises: Who may come to the holy hill and reside in God’s tabernacle? We hear a long list of right actions: Do what is right. Don’t slander. Don’t do wrong to your friends or harm the innocent. These are simple commands. Although they may be difficult to live in full, they guide the people toward a life of righteousness.

Second Reading: Colossians 1:15-28

It is not always easy to decipher the sometimes dense prose of Paul and those who wrote letters in his name. It may help to recognize them as direct advice to a congregation – a sermon in letter form – blending both theological reflection and practical advice. After a theological meditation on Christ as image of the invisible God who made peace through his sacrifice, the author tells us that in becoming a servant of the gospel, he became a servant of the church. As a busy servant, he might remind us of Martha in Sunday’s Gospel, fretting and annoyed. But his call to reconcile ourselves to Christ and proclaim Christ’s supremacy might make us think of Mary sitting in awe at the feet of Jesus.

Gospel: Luke 10:38-42

In last week’s reading from Luke, we heard the Good Samaritan story and reflected on who our neighbor really is. Today, the familiar story of Mary and Martha invites us to dig deeper into this central question of our faith. Who is the good neighbor here? Martha gets busy, cleaning the house, making dinner, making sure that everything is just right for Jesus’s visit. Mary doesn’t work at all. She chooses instead to sit at Jesus’ feet, listening, learning and loving. Martha’s work is important, but Mary makes time for Jesus. Could both women’s choices represent hospitality in separate ways?

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for July 21, 2019

First Reading (Track One): Amos 8:1-12

What does hospitality look like? How should it be practiced? In the Gospel story of Mary and Martha, which sister gets hospitality right? Don’t be too quick to decide before you’ve looked through Sunday’s readings.

In our Track One first reading, the Prophet Amos continues his angry prophecy against Israel’s king and high priest. Warning of the terrible fate that awaits them and their families if they continue to treat their subjects unjustly – inhospitably – he recites a horrifying litany of curses that will come to the land whose rulers trample the needy and ruin the poor. Their sun will go dark and their crops will fail. The nation will hunger and thirst for God’s words as it will for food and water.

First Reading (Track Two): Genesis 18:1-10a

In Sunday’s Track Two first reading the story of the chosen people begins. God, speaking through three mysterious strangers, comes to the patriarch Abraham by the oaks of Mamre. He greets these strangers with open hospitality far beyond their simple needs, killing a calf to prepare them a lavish meal. Then they reveal that he and his wife Sarah, despite their advanced age, will have a son. Later we learn that Abraham and Sarah’s offspring, as numerous as the stars, will inherit the Promised Land. Now, take your bible and turn the page. As we’ll hear in next week’s reading, immediately following this example of gracious hospitality and its rewards, we’ll hear the story of Sodom’s failure of hospitality and the total destruction that it reaped.

Psalm: (Track One): Psalm 52

Harmonizing nicely with the Track One first reading, the Psalmist angrily calls out a tyrant (Doeg the Edomite, who conspired with Saul to kill King David, according to the small print at the top of the psalm). We hear accusation in every line: This was a tyrant who trusted in great wealth; a liar, who loved evil more than good. Oh, that God would demolish you utterly, the Psalmist shouts. Wicked people who steal from the poor will fail, while those who trust in God’s eternal mercy will live in joy.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 15

Who may come to the holy hill and reside in God’s tabernacle? Such a privilege must be earned, the Psalmist sings. It should come as no surprise that, when we pare this psalm down to its essentials, we get another lesson in hospitality and love of neighbor: Do what is right. Don’t slander. Don’t do wrong by our friends or harm the innocent. These are simple commands, and they guide us into a life of righteousness.

Second Reading: Colossians 1:15-28

The letters of Paul and many of the later letters written by others in Paul’s name use a common approach: They are written to guide specific Christian communities, to advise and to teach. They are like sermons in writing. You can hear it in this passage from the letter to the Colossians today. After a theological meditation on Christ as image of the invisible God who made peace through his sacrifice, the writer tells us that he first became a servant of the gospel, a servant of the church. As a servant, he sounds a lot like Martha in Sunday’s Gospel. And then he advises us to reconcile ourselves to Christ and proclaim Christ’s supremacy, a worshipful approach that might make us think of Mary.

Gospel: Luke 10:38-42

When Jesus arrives at their home in Bethany, Mary and Martha both show hospitality, each in her own way. Martha welcomes Jesus by getting busy with the many tasks involved with serving their guest. Mary simply sits down at Jesus’ feet – an act that would have been very much outside a woman’s usual role in their culture. Martha is offering hospitality very much as Abraham did for his visitors at Mamre. This is a right and proper thing to do; yet this task leaves her worried and distracted, angry with her sister. Yet Mary, Jesus says “has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.” She showed her hospitality by dropping everything to listen to Jesus, their guest.

What are “Track 1” and “Track 2”?
During the long green season after Pentecost, there are two tracks (or strands) each week for Old Testament readings. Within each track, there is a Psalm chosen to accompany the particular lesson.
The Revised Common Lectionary allows us to make use of either of these tracks, but once a track has been selected, it should be followed through to the end of the Pentecost season, rather than jumping back and forth between the two strands.
For more information from LectionaryPage.net, click here.

Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for June 26, 2016

First Reading: 2 Kings 2:1-2,6-14

The two books of Kings sum up the story of Israel’s kings from David’s time until the then-united kingdoms of Israel and Judah fell and their leaders went into exile. We’ve been following the journey of the prophet Elijah, chosen by God to speak truth to King Ahab and his wife Jezebel, and to warn following kings that disaster lay ahead. Now Elijah is taken up to heaven in a fiery chariot – you can see an interpretation of it in one or our church windows, back beside the organ – and his helper, Elisha, takes up Elijah’s mantle and mission.

First Reading (Track Two): 1 Kings 19:15-16,19-21

The two books of Kings sum up the story of Israel’s kings from David’s time until the then-united kingdoms of Israel and Judah fell and their leaders went into exile. As we join the narrative here, the prophet Elijah, who had been chosen by God to speak truth to Israel’s kings and to warn them that disaster lay ahead, was despairing because he feared death at the hands of his foes. But God gave him strength and sent him on with instructions to choose Elisha as his successor. Elisha hesitates – foreshadowing the reluctant followers in today’s Gospel – but he finds the will to come along.

Psalm 77:1-2, 11-20

Stormy metaphors of dark clouds, thunder, lightning and pouring rain fill this Psalm with images of a God whose mighty deeds shout out God’s great power and might. The Psalmist is troubled in the dark of the night, crying out untiringly, seeking comfort for his soul but refusing to accept it. But then he finds hope by reflecting on God’s power in the storm and remembering how God gently led the people out of slavery and protected them in the desert.

Psalm (Track Two): Psalm 16

Titled “Song of Trust and Security in God,” this Psalm is held by tradition to be a prayer of King David when he sought God’s protection and guidance. While those who follow false gods will just get themselves in trouble, the poet sings, by accepting God as “my portion and my cup,” his heart will be glad and his spirit will rejoice, knowing that God will not abandon him to the grave.

Second Reading: Galatians 5:1,13-25

Having assured the Galatians that we are all in one with Jesus, no longer Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female, Paul urges all to stand firm in faith and to love our neighbors as ourselves. We are to use the freedom that God gives us not to “bite and devour” one another but to accept the fruit of the Spirit in “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”

Gospel: Luke 9:51-62

From now through the end of the Pentecost season, we will follow Luke’s account of Jesus’ long journey from his home in Galilee toward Jerusalem, his Passion and the Cross. As the journey begins, we see a side of Jesus that may surprise us with his seeming frustration and impatience. Is his command to come and follow him so urgent that disciples must leave the dead un-buried; is there really no time to bid their families farewell? Once Jesus “set his face to go to Jerusalem,” it seems, everything now focuses on bringing in the Kingdom. Nothing else is more important than that.

Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for Sunday, June 16, 2013.

First Reading: 1 Kings 21:1-21a
The tale of selfish King Ahab and his wife Jezebel (whose infamy has made her very name an insult) crushing Naboth of Jezreel is not a pretty story! But it might have echoes in modern times, when we watch news accounts about poor workers being killed in fiery disasters in sweatshops in Bangladesh. Elijah summoned an angry God to deliver bloody justice. We might do well to call on God for a gentler justice that firmly encourages caring for the poor, the weak and the oppressed. 

First Reading: 2 Samuel 11:26 – 12:10, 13-15
Do you think our bible heroes as great figures who never did wrong? Hardly! From Adam and Eve to Abraham to Moses and the prophets to Peter and the apostles, just about everyone in the book is flawed and sinful; yet God loves them and forgives them every time. King David was Israel’s greatest leader, but he was an adulterer and a murderer, too, who had the beautiful Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah, killed in battle so he could have her for himself. In this reading, God’s messenger Nathan tells David a story and tricks him into cursing and threatening with death a figure that turns out to be David himself. God spares David’s life, but learns that the child of his illicit union must die.

Psalm: Psalm 5
This psalm calls for protection from the psalmist’s enemies from an angry God who dislikes boasters, hates evildoers and destroys liars, seemingly assuming that these enemies will deserve whatever punishment God metes out.  We might be more comfortable with the idea of a God of abundant love who forgives sins and welcomes all. But certainly the Psalmist’s call seems consistent with Elijah’s warning to Ahab that “dogs will … lick up your blood.”    

Psalm: Psalm 32
Although modern scholars question the old tradition that King David wrote the Psalms himself, it would be easy to read today’s Psalm as David’s joy at God’s forgiveness. But God’s abundant love and forgiving spirit is not just for kings but for all God’s people. We, too, can rejoice and sing, “I will confess my transgressions to God, then you forgave the guilt of my sin. You are my hiding-place. You preserve me from trouble.”

Second Reading: Galatians 2:15-21
We continue working through Paul’s argument to the Galatians, who he feels have been misled by false teachers who came after he moved on and contradicted his ruling that Gentile converts to Christianity need not abide by Jewish law. Requiring  new Christians to submit to adult circumcision and start keeping kosher kitchens would surely have cut way back on converts! To reinforce his argument, Paul declares that we are saved by new faith in Jesus Christ, not by justification through the works of the old Jewish law.

Gospel: Luke 7:36 – 8:3
This may come as a surprise, but historically, the Pharisees weren’t bad people but highly educated scholars and preachers, pillars of the synagogues. The tension between Jewish Christians and Gentiles in the early church that we see in today’s Galatians reading also colors this Gospel, which paints the Pharisee Simon as a rude host who can’t be bothered to greet his guest Jesus with customary courtesies.  When the woman, who tradition sometimes recognizes as Mary Magdalene, anoints Jesus with the respect and love that the Pharisee failed to show, it is she who earns his praise and the forgiveness of her sins.